18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 254

Jasper, who wanted to take his time and do a meticulous job, had no choice but to passively accept. "Alright, we'll cover the meals. We'll pay you a salary in provisions when the time comes. "Let's not spoil them," Austin warned, "They are under contract after all."

He called them over for a break and asked excitedly, "How do you plan to renovate the place?"

Stella shared her plans of reinforcing the outer walls, building a greenhouse on the rooftop and in the backyard to grow vegetables and raise chickens and ducks.

Austin nearly dropped his cigarette in surprise, "Everyone else is putting in swimming pools and you're planning a farm?"

"We've spent everything on this house, and we can't afford any extra luxuries," Stella said bluntly, "I can live without swimming, but I can't live without food."

Austin laughed heartily, "You've got the right idea. Growing your own food is way more practical. Once you're done, I'll take a leaf out of your book."

They were both savvy people, especially Stella. She was not one to be taken advantage of. Despite the struggles of the past three years, she was doing better than ever. So, following her lead was a no-brainer.

However, Austin was a bit hesitant about the idea of installing broken glass on top of the high walls, "Why bother? It's not enough security. I could get you some electric fencing instead."

Stella wasn't against simplifying things, but an electric fence around the entire property would require a lot of materials. After three years, those were not easy to come by.

But when it came to finding supplies, there were very few things Austin couldn't handle.

Stella smiled, "I'll leave it to you then, Austin."

calculated the correct height and asked Austin for help, planning to barter the materials with food. Austin readily agreed, "Just let me know what else you need and

of what they needed, except for assembling the greenhouse

Austin assured, "Rob knows his stuff. He can help you

decided to

Austin was looking forward to it. He

started cooking with Rosie and Cooper assisting. The meal was simple: sweet potato and rice, dried beans with bacon, dried radishes with pork belly, dried cabbage salad, and a large pot of sweet potato leaves. Despite the simplicity

brought their own bowls and forks. They were blunt peasants with no sense of etiquette. They would scoop up a good amount of rice, grab a bunch of vegetables, and crouch down on the ground to eat. "Mmm,

full at every meal. The food cooked by Stella

in the same situation. Austin did not lack food, but he could not cook. Most of the time, his crew cooked for him. Compared to Stella's cooking, it was

struck gold with Stella," Austin

done something

for the day, the crew packed up and headed to

efficiency astounded Stella and Jasper, and they had to scramble to keep up with the supply

three-meter-high walls were up

the thinness of the walls: a layer of cement mortar, a layer of mixed mortar, and a layer of white

years. After the apocalypse, he latched onto Austin's coattails and became a middleman. He wasn't living in luxury, but

carried away and started gesturing at Austin, "Boss, you're

he hit the back of Shawn's

no, I wouldn't dare! Boss, take a break and have some water. I'll

tossed him the tool, "Everyone needs to commit fully. If I catch anyone slacking off, there'll be

help us source some so we can finish renovating the villa area? We'll split the profits." Stella laughed, "Austin, don't joke. It took us over six months to find all these materials. If it were that easy, we